PotashCorp has announced a $27 million program to provide air ambulance services across Saskatchewan, with special attention to rural, isolated and First Nations communities.
While plans have not been finalized, the project will include an emergency medical services helicopter and the construction of a new hangar to provide a base of operations in Saskatoon.
The deal follows on the signing of a new agreement between the province and the Shock Trauma Air Rescue Society
Dr. Greg Powell, head of STARS, said the service will initially be based on a BK117 twin-engine helicopter with a response radius of 250 kilometres, to be replaced eventually with a larger, faster AW 139 helicopter with more patient capacity and greater range of service into northern and southern Saskatchewan.
The STARS program will now service an estimated 90 percent of the province’s population.
